Review the course catalog. Familiarize yourself with the institution’s academic or professional focus. Take note of classes that appeal to you and areas in which you already have a solid foundation. You might want to refer to some of these aspects in your letter. Take note of the exact name of the college or program you are applying to. You don’t want to mention “X University Law School” if the name is actually “X University School of Law. ”
For example, some colleges request both a cover letter and a personal essay. Some graduate and professional programs require multiple, separate written statements, including letters of interest, statements of qualifications, diversity statements, etc.
The terminology used to refer to the interest letter varies widely. However, most colleges and programs will provide specific directions to you about what the document should contain, which you should use as guidelines as you compose your letter.
Reflect on your achievements. Now that you are familiar with your desired program, consider your past achievements that align well with the program. Academic, employment, volunteer and extracurricular activities may all apply. For example, if you are applying for a graduate program in teaching, you might mention your preschool teaching experiences, childhood education courses completed, and any volunteer teaching you did at your local community center.
What contribution or impact will studying at this particular college or program have on my academic development? What are my career goals? What steps and training are necessary to attain these goals? How will I use what I learn in this program to achieve my goals?
Consider what interests you most about your field. Is there a particular problem or challenge you want to tackle? When did you realize that you wanted to pursue this field? What challenges have you faced and overcome?
Draw on the information you gathered in your research. Use the program facts you gathered, as well as your reflections about your accomplishments and goals, to formulate a few clear and concise introductory statements about your interest in the program and its alignment with your goals. Avoid lengthy discussions of the program’s qualifications, such as “Z Business School is the nation’s top business school and has stellar resources in such-and-such. ” The program is aware of their own qualifications; they want to know about yours. Consider developing a “hook” for your introduction. You could begin with a statement that piques the reader’s interest, such as “I haven’t always known I wanted to do X. In fact, I thought for a long time I wanted to do Y. ” Remember: personal anecdotes can be great for introducing who you are and what you value, but don’t let your introduction become your life history.
Describe your qualifications in terms of your academic experiences, your personal traits and skills, and your recent and current activities. Relate any responsibilities or experience to skills that will be useful in your program. Discuss your area(s) of interest. While you should not be too broad in this discussion – don’t say you want to study simple “American history,” for example – they should also not be overly narrow. Instead, they should show that you are familiar with problems and challenges in your field. Elaborate on what you want to do during your program of study. Describe your future goals in concrete detail where possible. Then, demonstrate how the skills you expect to develop in your program will contribute to your achieving these goals.
Writing confidently doesn’t mean you have to be arrogant. Simply using clear, declarative sentences such as “I plan to study such-and-such in order to pursue my career goals of such-and-such” allows you to project confidence without arrogance or condescension.
This also applies to ideas. You may wish to become an English professor because you love reading, but many other people also love reading. What distinguishes you?
If you’re having a hard time transitioning between paragraphs, they may not be in a workable order. Figure out the central idea of each paragraph and switch things around as necessary to achieve a logical progression.
For example, a goal statement for a medical school application might read like this: “Attending X Medical School will provide me the training in forensic psychiatry that I need to achieve my career goal of working as a psychological profiler for the FBI. ”
For example, if applying to a graduate degree in history, you could mention a professor whose research interests you and with whom you’d like to work. For an application to medical school or a graduate program in the sciences, you might mention particular resources or laboratories that will support your research goals.
You may be requested to include a header with your name and email address, along with a page number, on each page of the statement.
Read your letter aloud. This will help you catch awkward phrases and missing or incorrect words.
